I am heartbroken! Another church in my city has been torn down. Our Lady of Health was a parish where I worked on a semi-regular basis. The small church was beautiful in a simple sort of way. It had a polished wood ceiling, many niches which held statues, and a beautiful marble sanctuary. The church was renovated only a few years before the closure was announced.
Even more than the physical beauty of the building was the spiritual beauty. It was where countless people celebrated baptisms, weddings, and worshipped on a regular basis. In 1924, when the church was built, for the community of Portuguese immigrants, the church was the center of their lives. Sadly, most of their children and grandchildren do not have the fervor of their ancestors.
Despite that, there were still many faithful members of Our Lady of Health, but the parish was finding it increasingly difficult to cover expenses. In addition, with falling the numbers of clergy (especially Portuguese speaking clergy, it was difficult to staff the parish with a full time priest.
The Herald News has an article about the demolition here.
3 comments:
That's a shame. And I have this fear that Holy Rosary (with what looks to be a small Casavant) could be next. I heard that church is now used only for the Saturday Mass the pastor there is also the Cathedral Rector.
BMP
Yes, I expect that Holy Rosary will be one of the next.
St. William's is already in the process of being demolished and should be completed next week.
The world of Spirit does have a direct physical connection to this world in tangible ways — often in highly visible, loud ways. This is a sad day.
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